T H E C O F F E E Y E A R B O O K
2 0 1 5 / 2 0 1 6
2 0 M I L L I O N B A G S B Y 2 0 2 0
45
UgandaCoffee Federation
in thecoffeeproduction
unlikeMr. Kifamatu’s andMr.
Ndabawherize’s childrenwho
aremeandering on the streets
looking for casual jobs.
If coffeeproduction is
approachedas a family
business, many youthswould
be inspired topractice it, with
someof them starting their
own farmlands and others
inheriting their parents’ coffee
farms. Theywould evenmake
the farms bigger and increase
productivity, but, sadly, most
of themare rushing to invest
in fast growing crops toearn
quickmoney yet coffee still
remains thebiggest income
earner for Ugandans involved
in agriculture.
Thecoffee sector inUganda
is still dominatedby the
elderly not because young
people continue to shun it,
but because they are faced
withnumerous challenges
like limitedaccess to land,
financeand skills. As the
sayinggoes that success
without a successor is not
success, theparents and
government need to find
solutions to attract the youths
to actively engage into coffee
production as abusiness.
In addition toprograms like
OperationWealthCreation,
where farmers aregiven
free coffee seedlings, the
government should form land
laws to ensure that young
people can haveaccess to
land for production at an early
age. As acountry, we should
also look at big ideas like
establishingcoffee schools
incoffeeproducing areas
so that the youths canbe
inspiredand acquire skills in
coffeeproduction, roasting,
brewing, coffee houses
management so that they can
operatecoffee kiosks and
engage in coffeeexport to
generatemore revenue and
inspiremore youths.
I want to endby urging the
government that if it wants to
achieve its goal of 20million
bags by 2020 from the current
3.5millionbags produced
annually, it must interest the
youngpeople into coffee
production.Wemust not take
coffee only for business but
as aculture so that young
people inherit from their
parents toensure sustainable
production of coffee in
Uganda.
...withalmost the samecoffeegardens, our dadwas able to sendus to
school yet their childrenwerenot able to acquire education andas of
now, they have continued togrowpoorer since they arenot able to earn
enough income from their coffee trees due to lowproductivity yet our
family’s farmhas continued to earnusmore incomedue to increased
productivity...
